Well, telling you I am going to blog more regularly is working out super well so far isn’t it? Moving swiftly on… today with my coffee, I’m sharing my reading so far this month. Join me?
This week, we’re drinking another banging Steampunk coffee. The Peruvian Eli Chilcon has tasting notes of pear and vanilla with floral hints, which is exactly as delicious as it sounds.
August got off to an unpleasant start here at Burns HQ after I spent two days in hospital with a suspected gallstone (who knew you could hang on to gallstones after having your gallbladder removed?) and then, because the pain of that wasn’t enough, I got myself a stomach ulcer. I’ve had a week off to celebrate S and Husband’s birthdays and, when this post goes live, we will be staying in a lodge enjoying a (hopefully) relaxing few days. All things considered, I’ve got a fair amount of reading done already this month, and I hope to get through a few more books in my time away.
My TBR this month was decided by me taking part in the Magical Readathon: Orilium Autumn Equinox so I chose books from my TBR which match the prompts rather than pulling books from my TBR jar. To complete my career pathway for this I needed to read 8 books. My re-read for this month was Circe by Madeline Miller, and this is also The Way Back read of the month. My just because book could have been literally anything I put on my TBR, but I’m saying Black Night Falling by Teri Terry because it was the one I was most desperate to make fit a prompt.
Number of books read: 13 Pages Read: 4640
Lore Olympus: Volume One, by Rachel Smythe What an absolute joy of a read. Loved the illustrations in this. Persephone is adorable. Looking forward to reading more
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, by Juno Dawson Believe all the hype. This book is phenomenal. I loved it. I need therapy now, but it was worth it. Cannot wait for the sequel
The Girl With No Soul, by Morgan Owen Stop sleeping on this book and read it immediately. So many unexpected shocks and twists. Stunning world building. Brilliant characters. An absolute rollercoaster of a book. I loved it.
Circe, by Madeline Miller This was a re-read for me and I loved it just as much as the first few times I read it.
A Second Chance, by Jodi Taylor I remember now why I’d blocked out the entire second half of this book. This one has some interesting developments, shocks and proper heart-breaking moments.
Lancaster Castle: A Brief History, by John Champness Really interesting short read on the history of Lancaster Castle.
The House at the Edge of Magic, by Amy Sparkes What a brilliant middle grade adventure. Packed with magic and brilliant characters. I absolutely adored feisty little Nine. Looking forward to reading the sequel now.
A Spell in the Wild: A Year (and Six Centuries) of Magic, by Alice Tarbuck I loved this book so much. It’s the perfect magical, witchy hug in a book.
The Eye of the North, by Sinéad O’Hart. A brilliant, action packed middle grade adventure. I loved the sea setting and the threat of the kraken rising. I adored Thing, he’s such a great friend to fierce Emmeline. Really enjoyed this one.
The False Rose, by Jakob Wegelius. Oh I do love Sally Jones. Another brilliant mystery for her to solve and a dark and twisty adventure to get there. There were times I really worried for Sally. I didn’t want to put this down. I hope we will get more in this series.
H.A.W.K.S., by M. A. Bennett. I’ve loved these books and following Greer and her friends as they try to understand and expose the dark side of their school. The love triangle hit new heights in this one and I’m so happy with how it ended. I’m sad to see these books end but couldn’t have wished for a better conclusion.
Black Night Falling, by Teri Terry I absolutely did not see things ending the way they have for Tabby and Denzi. I’ve loved this series since the first book. Each one has been a rollercoaster and this finale was no different. Kept me on edge the whole book. Brilliant end to a brilliant trilogy.
A Symphony of Echoes, by Jodi Taylor. Another brilliant St Mary’s story. I’ve read this before but had forgotten so much of it and still had my heart in my mouth for half of it. Diving straight into the third book.
Dog Days: A Year with Olive and Mabel, by Andrew Cotter. Olive and Mabel were a highlight of lockdown for me and I loved hearing more about them. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Andrew. He can narrate all the books from now on, thank you kindly.
52 Down in 2022: I’ve read 34 books towards this challenge now. I’m not sure where that puts me in terms of being ahead or behind (I’m dreadful with maths) but with 16 books left to complete this and about 19 weeks left in this calendar year, I am still hopeful I’m going to make it.
The Way Back Book Club: This month’s book club read was Circe by Madeline Miller. It’s one of my absolute favourites. I’ve read it twice already and am still thoroughly enjoying it.
Re-read Challenge: This month’s re-read might be a slight cheat as I am using Circe by Madeline Miller again. It’s definitely a re-read and one I have really enjoyed.
TBR: I ended June with 79 books. I have also had a surprising number of pre-orders arrive given the current Waterstones warehouse issues delaying some. I may also have splurged and bought a pile of e books from a favourite series of mine. Oops. This means I am leaving August with 81 books. I should probably be embarrassed or something, but never mind.
Storygraph: I’ve read 113 of my 150 book target, which means I am now 17 books ahead of where I need to be. I’ve read 38,462 / 50,000 pages. I might need to consider upping my targets if I keep going like this.
The books I’m excited for next month are:
- Wolfsong by T.J Klune
- The October Witches by Jennifer Classen
- Dragon Destiny by Katie and Kevin Tsang
- Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood-Hargrave and Tom deFreston
- The Lost Girl King by Catherine Doyle
I can’t wait to get my hands on each and every one of these books. Which books are you looking forward to in September?
Charlotte, Somewhere 
August has been a very slow reading month- only finished one (most likely not going to finish another); still in the middle of two at the moment
I really don’t know what the highlights of August really were
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